The conventional way of video contents consumption is mainly to watch passively video contents produced and serviced by contents distributors such as broadcasting companies. Hence it is difficult for a video contents user to find wanted portions of the video having a long period of playtime.
For example, if a user wishes to watch wanted portions of a video contents such as news, documentary, or black box video that does not have cut compilation commonly, the user spend a lot of time to watch them; and if a user wishes to repeatedly watch a specific unit of a video contents such as cooking program to follow the specific recipe shown in that unit, it is difficult for the user to watch again that unit because the user is required to search the entire video contents.
Moreover, it is restrictive for an individual user to produce and provide video contents since the user is required to buy expensive equipment and should be familiar with advanced technologies in order to produce and distribute the video contents and the produced video contents can be circulated through very limited distribution channels (e.g. TV or storage media such as CD or DVD).
However, as the smart media era has started with the advancement of communications network environments, the consumption pattern of using online video contents is changed such that a user who was previously watching video contents passively has changed into a contents provider who produces and distributes video contents by oneself and actively shares them with other users by interacting through social network services (SNSs) and sharing information.
The proportion of users making use of video contents in real-time with smart TV, PC, or mobile device is increasing drastically; in addition, the rapid evolution of communication networks creates added values of decreasing the cost for production, consumption, and distribution of video contents and increasing the speed of spreading them. As the cost of producing video contents for users of consuming video contents and the distribution channels of video contents such as website, SNS, or OTT services are not restricted to professional contents providers but open to everybody, the size of video contents providers is therefore increasing and diversifying.
In addition, the user interface technology has developed rapidly, which eliminates the technical barrier between professional contents providers such as a TV broadcasting company and general users in producing and distributing video contents and helps individualized video contents production and service. Hence a new era has arrived in which an individual user can direct, produce, publish video contents through an open distribution network and therefore make added values without having advanced techniques and expensive equipment.
Following the current trend, a user want more to reproduce new video contents by making use of their own video contents in such a way that the user produce a new video contents composed of video contents containing information the user needs or the user provides other users with a new video contents containing information which they need or are interested in.
Hence it is required to develop technologies for users to easily utilize video contents and to reproduce new video contents by making use of necessary information in the video contents.
The present disclosure proposes a method for intuitively reproducing video contents through data structuring and the apparatus thereof in which shares information on the video contents with other users by providing functions for tagging information, reply, or memo section by section and also produces a new video contents from the searched sections of the video contents by searching directly sections of the video contents containing information that a user needs.
Moreover, conventionally the consumption of video contents was carried out mainly by watching TV on the time of broadcasting the wanted program or by playing and watching the video contents contained in the storage media such as videotapes, video CD or DVD with the dedicated playback device after borrowing the storage media.
In addition, as the communications technology is developed, downloading of video contents with a user's equipment becomes available so that constraints on time and place in watching the video contents are lessened; but there still remains a problem in taking a long time to download and play large sized files containing video contents.
However, recently network, multimedia, user equipment and platform technologies are developed rapidly and the cloud as a virtual storage space in the network can be used to store and retrieve video contents. Therefore users can play and enjoy diverse video contents anytime anywhere regardless of time, playback device or place.
In addition, as streaming technology in which multimedia file including video contents are transferred and played and chunk-based video contents transmission technology are used, the user can play the corresponding video contents at the same time while downloading the video contents. Thus the waiting time required for using video contents is dramatically reduced and therefore the consumption of video contents by users is largely increased. In other words, online viewing of video contents with a PC or a smartphone on the web such as YouTube or social network service (SNS) is popular whereas previously watching TV on the time of broadcasting the wanted program or watching the video contents contained in the storage media (e.g. videotapes, video CD or DVD) with the dedicated playback device was used in the past.
In addition, as mobile communications terminals such as smart devices are extensively used, the consumption of video contents is drastically increased since the consumption is possible regardless of time and place and the competition among video contents providers becomes fierce more and more.
In addition, in making use of video contents, the users want interacting with other users in real-time by using reply or comment rather than simply watching the video contents produced and supplied by the video contents providers, and participating in making video contents by reproducing a new video contents from the relevant video contents through bookmarking or similar functions.
According to this trend, the need for an optimized user interface to video contents, which provide the video contents users with ease of use and support diverse functions to use necessary information in the video contents, is increased a lot.
However, the conventional interface for utilizing video contents provides only basic and simple functions such as play, pause, stop, fast forward or rewind, and playback speed control of video contents though the interface provides a function to play and watch the video contents easily with portable devices anytime and anywhere.
In addition, in case that a user wants to search sections of video contents, the user searches desired sections of the video contents using a seek bar, generally called time bar or seek bar, shown on the scale of the duration of playtime for the video contents; and the desired sections is found finally with several search trials.
The present disclosure proposes a user interface device for playing and editing video contents and the method thereof which supports interaction with other users by writing replies for each section in providing the edited section-based video contents by video contents providers and additionally enables prompt search of the corresponding video by making users to edit each section of the corresponding video contents and bookmark desired sections by themselves.
Next, we briefly review previous techniques in the related field of this present disclosure and then describe discriminative technical solutions to improve previous techniques.
Firstly, Korea published patent KR2012-0004674A (Jan. 13, 2012) relates to a production method of clip contents and the display apparatus thereof using the clip; the clip contents production method describes a video clip making technique composing sections of a video contents including the following three steps: (i) selecting the first and the second clip contents from a previously produced clip contents, (ii) deciding the order for combining the first and the second clip contents, and (iii) creating a third clip contents by combining the first and the second clip contents.
The above preceding technique is implemented to provide differentiated contents provision service by producing complete clip contents through combining previously existing clip contents, sharing easily the clip contents with other users, and making other contents using the restricted contents.
On the other hand, this present disclosure does not use previously existing clip contents but creates a new video contents by subdividing a video contents into sections using playback and editing interface, structuring data information for each section and selecting and combining desired sections of the video contents that contain information a user want with various access methods using data structured section information.
Korea registered patent KR1445922 (Sep. 23, 2014) relates to a knowledge contents reproduction method via social network service; it enables users to make and add a thumbnail to the knowledge contents at a specific time of a learning resource while studying the corresponding learning resource provided and displayed with a user equipment, to learn together with other users who are studying the same learning resource online or offline and to receive learning guidance from a lecturer by saving and sharing the conversation below the learning resource layer at the space of social network service, and to accumulate and share knowledge made by users based on learning resources;
The above preceding invention reproduces and enlarges the knowledge contents repeatedly by sharing questions on the learning resource and providing feedbacks among users connected with social networks, and builds knowledge contents through the social network service among users planned together offline so as to increase learning effect.
On the other hand, this present disclosure searches the section of a video contents containing information a user need with bookmarks or hash tags and immediately reproduces a new video contents using the search result.
Korea published patent KR2012-0079442 (Jul. 12, 2012) relates to a user interface apparatus and the method thereof, which implements a display unit presenting multiple videos at the same time and a control unit playing multiple videos at the same time and the selected videos from the multiple videos played so as to display multiple segments of the identical video to a display apparatus at the same time, and select and watch the desired segment of the video a user want to play using enlarged screen or full screen mode.
The above preceding invention is similar to this present disclosure in that it can select and watch specific segments of a whole video contents; however, this present disclosure offers technical features to make bookmarks on sections of a video divided by sections and provide a playing sequence of the bookmarked video sections so as to watch immediately the corresponding sections of video, and further to reproduce a new video contents combining the above bookmarked video sections.
Korea published patent KR2012-0079442 (Jul. 12, 2012) relates to a user interface provision device and the method thereof which plays simultaneously multiple videos for users to select desired videos from the multiple playing frames. For this purpose, the above preceding technique comprises a displaying unit that displays simultaneously multiple playing videos and a control unit that plays simultaneously multiple videos and also selected videos from the multiple playing videos.
The above preceding technique can display simultaneously multiple segments of the same video and a user selects one segment from the multiple segments to display in an enlarged screen or a full screen so as to select and watch desired sections of the entire video for the user.
On the other hand, the present inventive concept is devised to provide a function for a user to write and manage user data (e.g. memo, bookmark) in the user's desired sections of a video when using the video contents. Hence, the user can select and manage the interesting sections of a video contents to the user; and watch immediately the interesting sections of a video if the access method to the sections is provided using bookmark function.
In addition, Korea registered patent KR1150727 (May 22, 2012) relates to a video control method by manipulating objects in the video playing in a portable device and the portable device thereof, which features supporting functions playing and presenting video contents containing objects to a displaying unit; identifying selecting of specific objects through a touch detecting unit installed on the displaying unit; extracting control commands corresponding to a specific object after inquiring on a control command mapping table and displaying on the displaying unit; identifying the selected control command from the control commands displayed in the displaying unit and performing the related control functions with playback of the video contents; determining whether a specific object performs video control after inquiring on an object mapping table; and controlling the related scene with the specific object.
The above preceding technique is devised to support diverse and detailed control functions for intuitively manipulating video contents while playing them with portable devices, for example, watching a video contents from the scene a specific object appears, skipping over the scene where a specific object disappears, or watching a batch of scenes containing a specific object.
On the other hand, the present inventive concept is devised for users to intuitively identify the meaning for a corresponding section in the entire contents of a video by writing comments for each section in providing the edited section-based video contents by video contents providers so as to promptly search and play the interesting sections to the users; and additionally to immediately move and watch video sections related with the information a user selected when the user choose an item from the displayed list of information items, provided by the video contents providers, for each section of playing video contents.